Encounter
by Shadowed93
Summary: Harry goes to Hogwarts 5 years after Voldemorts defeat, to visit Dumbledore's Grave, where he bumps into Draco.


**Warning!: Draco X Harry Love!**

**Thanks to ToxicRainfall for beta-reading my story! Love you 3**

It was five years after the defeat of the Dark Lord and it was the anniversary of Albus Dumbledore's death. Six years had passed since that awful night on the tower, and only now did Harry felt like he was finally ready to revisit his old Headmaster's grave. After discovering the true reason behind his death, among other things, Harry had had trouble fully coming to terms with everything. Now, he was able to make the journey to Hogwarts castle.

After grabbing a daisy from the ground, Harry transfigured it into a beautiful bouquet of roses of every colour; something he felt the eccentric old man would have appreciated. He then turned on the spot and felt the familiar compressed feeling of apparation. Half a second later, the beautiful village of Hogsmeade surrounded him instead of his thoroughly overgrown back garden. People were bustling about everywhere, the crowds densest around the entrances to The Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes (Hogsmeade branch). Harry soon realised that it must be the Hogsmeade weekend for the Hogwarts students. This suited Harry perfectly. The grounds would be far emptier, and so there would be less chance of being seen. He still got a lot of attention whilst out and about. He didn't want to be held up by any admirers today. Filled with memories of his years attending Hogwarts, Harry set off on the walk up to the castle.

Approaching the renovated white tomb, Harry was filled with emotions: love and admiration for the man encased inside, sorrow for his death, and resentment for his plans of raising Harry to be killed whilst fighting Voldemort – a fact that had been revealed in the pensieve in Snape's memories. With all this bursting out of Harry, tears pricked at his eyes and threatened to overflow.

When he reached the beautiful stone grave, he knelt down in front of it, tenderly placing his flowers onto the ground beside the tomb. From his robes' pocket he produced a packet of fizzing whizbees and laid them next to the flowers. Here he stayed, remembering everything that Albus Dumbledore had ever done for him.

"Merlin's beard! Harry Potter? What an honour!" exclaimed an excited voice from somewhere behind Harry. He sighed softly; this was just the sort of encounter he didn't want right now.

"Yeah, it's me..." He replied, turning. "Oh. You." Standing behind him, with a smirk on his face, was his least favourite person. Draco Malfoy.

"Shocked, Potter? Think I was some excited fan hoping for your autograph? Your ego's getting rather bloated, isn't it?" he said, smirk widening.

"No, Malfoy, that thought didn't enter my head." Then it hit him. The man standing before him now was the one who had been planning on killing Dumbledore for most of their sixth year at Hogwarts. The one who had him cornered, wand raised, poised for the kill when Snape had intervened and completed the task. His face contorted with rage, Harry began to shout at Draco.

"You! You tried to kill Dumbledore! How dare you come near his tomb? You have no right to be anywhere _near_ it! You shouldn't even be allowed on the grounds! Just because you didn't manage to complete your murder, you're still guilty! And you have the courage to show your face here? Why are you even here? And where's your remorse? Guilt? You're just as cocky and conceited as you were then!" At some point during this rant, Draco had turned and started to walk away.

"OI!" Harry shouted after him "I'm not done with you!" He caught up with Draco, grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around. Shockingly, tears were falling from Draco's clear blue eyes, down his pale face. Harry was lost for words. All his rage slipped away. He found that all the insults he had lined up would not come out of his mouth. The sudden urge to wipe Draco's tears away came over him, but Draco instead began to talk.

"I know, okay? It's all so true, everything you just said. You think I don't feel bad about it? Of course I do. I come here every year, on the anniversary of his death. But you have to understand, I had no choice. When I joined the Death Eaters, Voldemort told me that I either had to join him or he would kill my parents. You know what it's like to have your parents taken away from you by him. I couldn't bear that. And then, he set me that terrible task. I was shocked. I always knew that Dumbledore was a great man, even if I never said it. I had absolutely no desire to be the cause of his death, but again I had no choice. Voldemort assured me that if I didn't do it, he would kill me. Please, forgive me. I wasn't strong enough to fight him, resist him. Please."

Harry was speechless. So much emotion had gone into Draco's speech, that he knew it must have been true. Draco had grabbed his arm and was holding it tightly, as if he wouldn't let go until reassured by Harry. He placed his hand carefully over Draco's.

"Okay, I believe you. I forgive you." Fresh tears rolled down Draco's cheeks. This time, Harry did wipe them away. For almost a full minute, they stood there, staring into each others eyes, silvery-blue into green. Eventually, Draco took Harry's hand from his face, wrapped his arms around Harry's waist and pulled him close. It was by far the best hug Harry had ever had. Not wanting it to end, he pulled Draco back when he tried to pull away. Finally, they left each other's arms.

"Thanks, Potter" Draco said, back to his usual self, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. He smirked, and turned away. Dumbstruck, Harry watched him leave the grounds. He hoped they would see each other again soon.

**Thanks for reading! Leave a review if you liked it/have any criticisms :D**


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